On my way to a remote reservoir I stopped and got some coffee and two blueberry muffins. The muffins would be my lunch. I’d only downed about half my delicious coffee by the time I hit the reservoir at around 10:45am.
The wind was relentless but manageable, with whitecaps visible across the reservoir. The air temperature was around 70F, and would rise to around 80F later in the day. The skies were partly cloudy.
I didn’t see carp in my usual areas, so I explored. Fortunately, this lead to my finding a new favorite spot, along a rocky ledge in a small cove.
The water didn’t provide great visibility, and the surface was always rippled by wind, but it was acceptable.
I learned today that carp are ridiculously spooky. I knew they were easily spooked, this isn’t my first rodeo, but today was a master class in just how sensitive these fish can be.
At one point I was waiting for a small pod of carp to swim closer to me, but one of my feet dislodged a loose rock, which made a cracking sound when it rolled a few inches.
The entire pod of four or so carp bolted for the depths. Those fish were about 20-feet off the shoreline.
They felt the reverberations. Keep in mind, the rock didn’t roll down the hill and splash into the water. It just moved a few inches when I dislodged it, knocking against other rocks.
That really surprised me.
Their eyesight is sharp too—they’d spook at even slight movements. It made me wonder how many carp have seen me well before I saw them.
Anyhow, I ended up shooting a carp on my third or fourth shot, and it was a nice one, pictured below.
Thirty or so minutes later I saw a large raven picking at the dead carp. The carp bowfishers shoot become food for other animals. A transfer of energy.
Anyhow, once I got into a rhythm, I ended up shooting a few more fish, including this big dude.
One of the carp I shot immediately bolted for the depths and took line off the reel. I love that sound.
I watched my biggest carp of the day quickly drag my arrow out to deeper water before too much pressure pulled the arrow out of the fish. Bummer.
It was an enjoyable day of bowfishing.
There were some shots I didn’t take but probably should have, and there were some shots I did take that probably should’ve connected but didn’t.
I used the same arrow and carp point the entire day today, but I’m still not a fan of the two wire barb design. After nearly every shot, I’d have to re-align the barbs so that they wouldn’t alter my arrow’s movement in the water. In other words, the barbs were almost always stuck in a misaligned position after each shot. I’d tighten the carp point repeatedly, but it’d still happen.
I see other bowfishers just leave the two barbs misaligned shot after shot, but I don’t agree with that logic.
By the time I left the water at around 5:15pm, I was 6-for-28 (21.4%). I was 6-for-21 but had seven straight misses at the end of the day.
On the drive out, I’d periodically scan the water below. At one elbow in the road, I saw a huge pod of around 40 carp right near the shoreline below. It was way below the road, but I made a mental note for next time.
